Episode 056 -The Butterfly Intrigue: The Green Serpent Part IV
Book of Doug Touchstones Episode Features * Part four of the four-part first anniversary event in which Carmen reads The Green Serpent to Tyler, Gordie and guest podcaster, Dani Featured Story For more information on The Green Serpent, go here. Overall Plot In this part of the story, d'Oulnoy takes inspiration from The Golden Ass when the heroine meets a man who's been turned into a bird who has wandered the world done a lot of people watching. Later it mimics Eurydice. * The story in the episode begins with Laidronet officially having a new name with her new appearance: Queen Discreet. There are also embroidered shoes there for some reason, which Queen Discreet puts on despite not wanting to ruin them. The canaries take her to a forest full of talking animals. She soon finds out that the animals are not animals but humans who have been cursed by 'good' fairies for annoyances. * Some examples given are chatty people turned into jays, parrots, and hens, unfaithful lovers turned into canaries, pigeons, and little dogs, people who eat too much turned into pigs, and people with bad tempers turned into lions. * One of the canaries that lead her carriage then tells his life story. He was the son of a Spanish nobleman who got a crush on an English girl who didn't like him back, so he was turned into a canary and the girl was turned into a wasp. Naturally, she was not happy to see him when he went looking for her after they were animals. * He then went on a journey where he met other people who were ultimately turned into animals for their lovelives. First there was a woman who's being abused by her lover- the abuser was turned into a wolf and the woman is turned into a sheep. Then there is a man who literally locked up his wife, but his wife still slept with a neighbor that snuck in. The neighbor was turned into a squirrel, the wife into a monkey and the husband into a dog. * The canary has more stories of fairy punishments, but we're focused on Queen Discreet again. A palace suddenly appears, and the birds bring her fruit. They declare her their queen. For the next three years, she just lives with all these punished animal people entertaining her. She has a good time but feels guilty about the Green Serpent. * When her time is up, she leaves secretly so as not to make the animals sad. She brings the pitcher, the iron shoes, and the basket with her. When she sees Magotine she says that the reason she was gone for three years was because it took her that long to figure out how to fill the pitcher. Only now does Magotine notice that she's hot, so Queen Discreet tells her about washing her face. * Magotine tells her to go to Hades and get the elixir of long life from Persephone. Queen Discreet points out that this is impossible and cries but Magotine just gives her bread and nuts. Queen Discreet falls asleep under a tree, and the protectoress speaks to her in her dream. The proctectoress gives her a green branch and tells her to strike it on the ground and say a long prayer. The embodiment of Love appears. Everyone tells poems, and this makes the earth open up. * Love is another dues ex machina, basically turning the Green Serpent back into a person before Queen Discreet finds him. They recognize each other despite their altered looks. They tell poems to each other, but Love is in a hurry and rushes them over to meet Persephone. Persephone gives her a vial with a loose cork, which is a test. Love tells Queen Discreet not to try the vial and she doesn't. When they return to Magotine, Love basically hypnotizes her into being nice, and the happy couple returns to Pagody. * The end Discussion Points * Queen Discreet * Wanton fairy judgement * Fairy tale Saw * Butterflies carrying on intrigues with panthers * Stud canary * Santa Claus the Italian adulterer * In game video-game tutorials * What the heck is the moral * A dictionary definition of discretion * The sad future of uneducated ants * Why did anything happen * Discreet and hot: living the dream * Is all of this story a rock delusion * A rap music video about the giving of a purple petticoat * A one man show done by Rowan Atkinson with no props * Surviving the anniversisode Notable Quotes * Tyler: It's because D'oulnoy has gone so long without describing a pretty thing. *Gordie: I don't understand how so many things happened, but I waited so long for the plot to get started. *Tyler: Guys I'm still very concerned about this ants. And their future. *